The Sixer Sense
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Philadelphia 76ers Become NBA Bad Boys Five Easy Steps?

By Bret Stuter

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 22, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) shoots the ball over Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams (12) during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) shoots the ball over Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams (12) during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

I.    Physicality

The Philadelphia 76ers are not a small team whatsoever.  And on the roster there are plenty of big strong tough players.  Toss the “fragility” labels to the circular file. The 2016-2017 season was not worth aggravating the injuries to key players once post-season become all but unattainable.

So far, the team has been building around a sketchy scheme of three-point shooting to support the efforts of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.  But that is an awfully difficult skill to draft with any immediate results.  Recall that 2016 rookie Brandon Ingram was blessed with a natural long-shot. In fact, many argued that he, and not Ben Simmons, made the ideal top draft in the 2016 NBA Draft due to that long range shooting prowess.   He shot 29.4 percent from three point range.  The Philadelphia 76ers selected Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot some 22 slots later in that same draft. He shot 31.1 percent  from three point range.

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Draft Defense

You don’t nail NBA impact shooters in the NBA Draft.  But you can get solid defense and physical play from the draft. And the more I think about it, the more I want this team to get more physical, stronger defensively.  I’d like to see Jahlil Okafor, Dario Saric, Gerald Henderson and even Nik Stauskas get more physical, more disruptive.

We’ve witnessed the contribution of Luwawu-Cabarrot, Embiid, Covington on defense. It’s important to continue that momentum.